On April 1, 2011 the AGO invited six leading artists to participate in an online symposium in conjunction with the exhibition, Inuit Modern. Conversations with Kenojuak Ashevak, Mattiusi Iyaituk, Jimmy Manning, David Ruben Piqtoukun, Mike Massie and Tim Pitsiulak provide valuable insights into inspiration, process, and the challenges of achieving and sharing their artistic visions. Video of all three sessions is now available online:

Kenojuak Ashevak has created some of the most instantly recognizable works of Inuit art, beginning with her 1960 iconic print, The Enchanted Owl. She starred in a 1963 National Film Board documentary, Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak. The film was shot in spring 1962, and Kenojuak later revealed that the igloo featured in the film had to be constructed out of styrofoam because the snow was too soft. Presently living and working in Cape Dorset, her home since 1966, Kenojuak continues her prolific pursuit of graphic media, both drawings and prints, in addition to making time for family and travel.

Book Signing and Launch for Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection
Sunday, November 7 2010, 1–3 pm at shopAGO

shopAGO invites you to meet curators Gerald McMaster and Ingo Hessel, and other contributors to Inuit Modern as well as artists featured in the publication.

This collection situates modern Inuit art within a larger framework that reinterprets the Canadian Arctic. Essays by leading Canadian scholars in the field, including Ingo Hessel, Gerald McMaster, Robert McGhee, Christine Lalonde, Heather Igloliorte, Dorothy Eber and Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad, examine the social, political and cultural transformation through the dynamic lens of colonial influence and agency. Inuit Modern also features interviews with David Ruben Piqtoukun and Zacharias Kunuk.